A series of recordings posted on YouTube are raising fresh questions about the role Stephen Harper’s key spokesman and former Quebec adviser may have played – and who he was dealing with – in an unsuccessful attempt to influence in 2007 the choice of who would be the new president of the Montreal Port Authority.

Allegations that Dimitri Soudas intervened in a bid to help Montreal engineer Robert Abdallah secure the plum post took a strange twist Thursday when Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe distributed transcripts of conversations in which men identified as Montreal construction boss Tony Accurso and businessman Bernard Poulin discuss the job and who they think should have it.

In the first conversation, the man identified as Poulin describes Soudas as “the big boss in Quebec, the real boss.”

In the second conversation, the man identified as Accurso says he has been talking to “Robert” and learned that “the big boss gave the order right then and there to Cannon.”

It’s not clear exactly who he means, although Lawrence Cannon is Harper’s former Quebec lieutenant and was minister of foreign affairs when the government fell.

Campaigning in Newfoundland Thursday, Harper said charges that Soudas had used the Prime Minister’s Office to interfere in the appointment process are “completely false.”

Soudas, who has admitted he expressed the government’s preference, said he didn’t exert pressure on anyone.

“It is crystal clear. Anybody who wants to influence the Prime Minister’s Office, they will find the door padlocked.”

Soudas also said he had never spoken to Accurso or Poulin and didn’t receive any compensation for recommending Abdallah. A former city director, Abdallah went on to work for one of Accurso’s companies.

Duceppe was unable to say how he learned about the recordings, which were posted on YouTube under the name “jenniferousakos.” Nor could he verify their accuracy with absolute certainty. He said, however, that he believes them to be credible.

“The people (talking) are idenitified,” Duceppe said of the recordings. “It is in the public domain.”

Duceppe said he learned of the audio tapes only Thursday morning. But curiously, he had described Soudas as “the big boss” in a stump speech to BQ supporters in Quebec City Wednesday night.

According to the transcript provided by the Bloc, the man identified as Poulin says there’s strong interest in making sure the position at the Port of Montreal that was about to open went to the kind of person “who would help in the development of Montreal.” After discussing possible candidates, the man identified as Poulin said he had met with Leo Housakos, a Conservative Party fundraiser who had been appointed to the Senate by Harper. The man identified in the tape as Poulin says he was told that, “It’s not Cannon that Leo is close to, it’s with Dimitri Soudas.”

The man identified as Poulin said if Accurso wanted, Leo was ready to bring in Soudas. “His buddy Soudas, he can twist it better than anyone else.”

The man identified as Accurso asks the man identified as Poulin what he thinks Soudas will be able to do. “It’s because Soudas, he’s the boss of Quebec, the real boss, not Cannon.”

When the man said to be Poulin asks whether there might be something in it for the person who “delivers something,” the man believed to be Accurso said, “of course.”

In the second conversation, the man identified as Accurso tells an unidentified contact he had good news about a man called Robert. “In Ottawa yesterday, it went very well,” the man reported to be Accurso says. “The big boss gave the order right then and there to Cannon.”

Speaking to reporters in Ste. Claire, Duceppe said he believes Soudas should step aside and Harper must clear the air before Canadians go to the polls May 2.

“Why is he still there? It seems to me there are cases much less serious than this where people had the dignity to step down.

“It requires explanations from Mr. Harper. How is it that Housakso and Soudas are contacted for changing the course of events in a nomination process?”

Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said: “Harper has to fire this guy on the spot.

“This is about Harper and his political conduct and his contempt for Canadians,” said Ignatieff, who called Soudas Harper’s “little lapdog.”

New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton called for an investigation and reminded voters why they should vote for the NDP. In fact, the party was so quick to capitalize on the scandal it arranged for its political ads to appear on newsites that aired the audio recordings: “We need an investigation to find the truth, but it is once again a sign that things are the same in Ottawa, that things are not working, we need to clean it up and we can do it with the NDP.”

Dmitri Soudas, press attaché for Conservative leader Stephen Harper, denied Thursday having been given any kind of “compensation” for his alleged effort in 2007 to push some members of the board of directors at the Montreal Port Authority into nominating the Conservative government’s choice for a new chief executive. The Conservative government’s choice was Robert Abdallah, former city of Montreal director.

But transcripts of telephone calls, handed out to reporters traveling with Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe, appear to discuss giving Soudas “compensation” if he is able to “deliver something” for the two callers. The callers have allegedly been identified as Bernard Poulin, president of the Quebec engineering firm SM Group International, and Tony Accurso, a Montreal construction entrepreneur.

After learning of the transcripts, taken from YouTube tapes apparently placed on the website Thursday morning, Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff demanded that Soudas resign.

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